


A Lovely Thing

by Noteventhat (Facialteeth)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hand Feeding, Jace doesn't know what fruit is, M/M, Mention of a Head Injury, Teasing, Tired Snuggling, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:22:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23688367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Facialteeth/pseuds/Noteventhat
Summary: Jace woke up and all he could think about was how comfortable he felt in Meliorn's bed. Then, he realized he didn't quite remember how he got there.
Relationships: Jace Herondale/Meliorn
Comments: 2
Kudos: 98





	A Lovely Thing

The first thing Jace was aware of as he woke up was how absolutely comfortable he felt. Every inch of Jace’s body was warm and relaxed, as if his muscles were melting into the soft plush bedding he was curled into. Even his fingertips and his toes felt like jelly in the cocoon he was wrapped in. There was no part of him that wanted to wake up even enough to open his eyes but after a moment, Jace became aware that he was not in his own bed. 

His bed wasn’t anywhere near this comfortable. He was well acquainted with the hard, cheap beds that the Clave provided for them and Jace knew that he could never be this comfortable in that bed. Jace forced his eyes open. For a moment, all he could see was darkness and a pale flickering light bouncing off the canvas walls. 

Instantly, a smile broke out on his face. Meliorn. He was at Meliorn’s. He should have assumed. If he wasn’t at the Institute, where else would he be? Jace took in a deep breath and pulled the scent of greenery and up turned dirt into his lungs. Meliorn always smelled like a garden with a twinge of orange. 

Jace had always loved the smell of oranges. 

For a moment, Jace closed his eyes again and let himself relax further into the sheets. He was safe. He was comfortable. He was home. Then, Jace felt someone shift behind him and his eyes flew open again. 

Jace had assumed Meliorn was outside or maybe, he’d slipped out to attend to some business but no, Meliorn was _here_. Jace pushed himself up onto his hands, until he could roll himself backwards. He hadn’t expected Meliorn to be so close, so he’d found himself falling against his legs instead of settling next to him like he'd intended but Jace wasn’t upset about it. 

Jace had missed him and the awkward angle as his head fell backwards to be able to see him was worth it. He smiled when his eyes met his boyfriend’s. Meliorn's hair was messy and it was pulled up in a light bun. Clearly, he’d been in bed with Jace for a while. 

He was beautiful. Of course, Jace thought he was beautiful when his hair was done and he was wearing clothes but he was beautiful like this too, without the armor that Jace knew he didn’t actually need to protect himself, without the decorations he wore, without a _shirt_. 

Meliorn met his grin with a soft smile as he put down whatever it was he’d been holding (some type of leaf thing Jace would ask about later, when he wasn’t distracted by the sight of him). “Hello there.” Meliorn cooed, reaching out to brush Jace’s hair back from his face. 

Jace knew his hair was a mess. He could feel it tangled on his head but he didn’t mind. Meliorn had to be used to his unruly hair by now. “What a lovely thing to wake up to.” Jace murmured, finally rolling over to a comfortable position with his arms wrapped around Meliorn’s legs and his head pillowed into his thigh. 

“Did you know-” Meliorn murmured, tugging his finger’s through Jace’s damp knotted hair as he spoke. “-that you’ve said that same thing the past three times you’ve woken up?”

Jace hummed and a smile broke on his face once again. Even just the sound of his voice made Jace want to smile. He was in so deep. “Really?” He asked after a moment. “Then I must really mean it.” 

For a second, Meliorn’s fingers stilled in his hair. “Consider me just as charmed as last time.” He said finally, his fingers slowly going back to their task. 

Jace could hear in his voice that he _was_ charmed and it made him happy to have to have done that. Meliorn commented that he was like a puppy once. He thrived off praise and attention, even if he liked to pretend he didn’t care what anyone else thought. 

Well, he wasn't exactly wrong but Jace thought maybe Meliorn was a little biased. Jace didn’t thrive off just anyone’s attention. He thrived off his. It made him happy to know he’d made Meliorn happy. It made him happy when Meliorn was pleased with him. 

Jace’s chest was warm and Meliorn’s fingers felt like heaven as they scrapped against his skin. It was enough to almost lull Jace back to sleep… Almost. Jace was already half unconscious when something other than Meliorn occurred to him. 

He didn’t remember how he’d gotten there. It wasn’t unusual to wake up in Meliorn’s bed but Jace didn’t remember coming over. He didn’t remember planning to come here at all. Last he knew, he had been going out on a mission to check out some demonic activity downtown and then… 

Nothing, until now. Jace’s eyes flicked open. “How did I get here?” He asked, squirming a little to peer up at Meliorn’s amused face. 

“Now, it’s the first time you’ve asked that.” Meliorn said, half laughing as he kept toying with Jace’s hair. “You don’t remember?” He asked, seeming as if he knew the answer. 

Jace frowned at him. He didn’t remember, apparently. He didn’t remember anything except gearing up and heading out with Alec. They didn’t get to go on missions much anymore but there hadn’t been much going on. They’d thought it would be fun and easy but if he was waking up in Meliorn’s bed… 

“Did I get hurt?” He asked, finally pushing himself into a sitting position. He felt for his head, realizing for the first time that it hurt just a little. “Is Alec okay?” He asked irrationally, knowing that if Alec was not okay he would feel that.

Meliorn reached out for him, pulling Jace’s hand into his own, soothing him like one might a child. “Shh.” He whispered, calming him in the same breath. Meliorn wouldn’t be trying to calm him down if someone was actually hurt. “Everyone is fine. You hit your head.” Meliorn squeezed Jace’s hand in his before he let go. “You woke up and you were causing quite a ruckus at the Institute. You refused to stay in bed.” 

Jace’s shoulders relaxed slightly as Meliorn spoke. Yeah, that sounded like him. 

Meliorn pulled the sheets from his body and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He was naked and Jace was distracted for a brief moment before Meliorn kept speaking. 

His mouth curled into a small smile as he caught Jace’s eyes darting up. “Alec practically begged me to take you off his hands.” Meliorn turned and disappeared behind the curtain as he spoke before reappearing a moment later with a small bowl of fruit in his hands. Most of it, Jace recognized but some of it, he didn’t. He knew it came from faerie and it probably healed him and changed the color of his aura or something. 

The food Meliorn tried to feed him had made him feel sick once. Meliorn had said his body was too used to processed mundane food to handle the raw foods of faerie. He ate too many snacks is basically what he had meant. 

Meliorn hadn’t commented on his sudden ability to eat fruit without throwing up but Jace knew he was proud of him. His diet had improved significantly since they’d started dating. Meliorn came forward and pressed the bowl into Jace’s hands before he joined him on the bed once again. “Eat.” He commanded softly, “It’s the first time you’ve been awake in days.”

Jace glanced down to the bowl in his hands before he reached out and took a squishy white chunk of fruit into his finger tips. He plopped it into his mouth, humming at the sweet taste. Jace reached for another and offered it out to Meliorn’s lips. “What’s this one?” He asked softly. 

Meliorn accepted his offer and chuckled at him as he swallowed it. “It’s called Dragon Fruit.” His eyes crinkled around the edges as he laughed at him. “How many mundane fruits have you not tried?”

Jace flushed, pretending to ignore him by plucking another chunk of the fruit up and eating it. Meliorn had already made fun of him for his lack of knowledge surrounding fruit. He’d had to show him what a mango was a month ago, when Jace had assumed it was something from faerie. “The Institute doesn’t teach us about fruit.” Jace insisted for not the first time. “We know the important ones, like apples and oranges.” 

“Yeah?” Meliorn teased softly, clearly finding Jace’s argument more funny than compelling. He reached out for the bowl and took a grape into his fingers (yes, Jace knew it was a grape) before he reached out to feed it to him. 

“Yeah.” Jace insisted around his mouthful. Just to prove his point, he said out loud. “That was a grape,” Before he reached for another one to offer Meliorn in return.

Meliorn raised an eyebrow but he took it into his mouth as Jace held it out. “It was not.” He said once he swallowed. 

Jace had been about to call him a liar and then he realized that Meliorn couldn’t lie to him and his face fell entirely. He’d been so sure it was grape. He _knew_ what a grape was. He wouldn’t have said it with such confidence if he hadn’t been sure. 

“The scientific name for the plant is called vitis.” Meliorn continued, after he’d enjoyed Jace’s face for just a moment long enough to be considered cruel. 

“But it’s a grape?” Jace demanded, wanting to be absolutely sure. 

Meliorn laughed and reached for another to feed him as he nodded. “Yes, it is.” He assured him, laughing a little harder at the face Jace made when he realized Meliorn had tricked him. “Good job.” He cooed, his teasing tone making Jace blush entirely. 

He didn’t blush often but Meliorn seemed to find it really easy to make him do so.

“I knew it was.” Jace mumbled, like he hadn’t completely doubted himself the moment Meliorn said it. “I just trust you. I don’t expect you to _lie_ to me.”

Jace reached for another chunk of fruit, one he didn’t actually recognize. He was pretty sure this one came from faerie but he wasn’t going to embarrass himself by asking and finding out that it was yet another mundane fruit he was entirely unaware of. He reached for it and bit it in half before offering the other half out to Meliorn. 

It tasted sweet and fibery. Even if it was a mundane fruit, it was one Jace had ever tried before. 

“I can’t lie, especially not to you.” Meliorn insisted before he took the fruit from Jace’s fingers. His tongue darted out as he took it and swiped across the pad of Jace’s thumb, licking the juice that had collected there. 

“No, you just trick me.” Jace whispered, watching with interest as Meliorn’s tongue retreated back into his mouth. “You like making fun of me.” Jace murmured before he pressed the bowl into Meliorn’s hands completely. 

Jace moved forward until he could press himself against his boyfriend’s chest. Meliorn said he had been asleep for days but suddenly, Jace wouldn’t have been able to tell. He was tired again but he’d been hurt too. 

Jace had never given himself a chance to heal anytime he’d been hurt in his life. If he was awake and he could move, he was up and ready for something else. If he’d woken up at the Institute, he knew he would have thrown himself out of bed and been already looking at the monitors, seeing what he could be doing. 

Here, he had nothing to throw himself up to do. He had nothing to do but sink into Meliorn and force himself to rest for the first time in his entire life. He didn’t even have to force himself to rest though because Jace was sure the Institute was fine without him and he also knew that there was no place else he’d rather be right now.

Jace heard Meliorn place the bowl down on the table next to him and then he felt Meliorn’s arms wrap around him to hold him close. “I do like making fun of you.” Meliorn murmured above him, “-but I’d never trick you.” 

As he drifted off, Jace wondered if Meliorn was sick of laying in bed with him but he didn’t let his mind chase that thought and worry about it. He was comfortable. Meliorn was holding him. Nothing else mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> I just felt like I needed a soft, snuggly fic right now.


End file.
